Squeeze riveter



FIPBOOQ OR 2,384 1 1 Search Room Sept. 4, 1945. F, A. KAMAN 2,384,175

SQUEEZE RIVETER Filed May 1, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet m M x Q Q MN 4 m Y%////////////////////V/M////// i w Q a Q MN Y B w w w N. w\\\\\\\\\\\ I Arrow n h C r a e 03 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. flaw/(,4 m

AITUPA/[K Patented Sept. 4, 1945 Search Room UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SQUEEZE RIVETER Frank A. Kaman, Aurora, Ill., assignor to Independent Pneumatic Tool Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application May 1, 1943, Serial No. 485,267

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in ortable power operated squeeze riveting tools usable in the airplane and other industries for cold riveting of aluminum, Duralumin and like rivets.

Riveting tools of the alligator or pivoted jaw type are more adaptable to reaching rivets lying close to structural elements because these tools are held outwardly in the general plane of the plates to be riveted together with the jaws of the machine spanning the edges of the plates to engage the rivets.

The principal object and purpose of my invention is to provide these pivoted jaw riveters with a straight line riveting action to produce more perfect heading in upsetting the rivets than possible when the pivoted jaw with its arcuate motion acts directly on the rivet as heretofore.

In carrying out the objects of my invention, I mount a reciprocable riveting plunger in the tool for operation by the pivoted jaw on its riveting stroke for converting the arcuate movement of the pivoted jaw into a straight line action at the plunger for upsetting the rivets.

A further object of my invention is to provide the fixed jaw with a bracket element to mount the pivoted jaw and the plunger, the bracket having a forwardly extending arm portion to dispose the plunger in transverse relation to the tool axis in opposition to an anvil on the fixed jaw to receive a rivet therebetween.

The invention consists further in the features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings- Fig. 1 is a side elevational view with parts broken away and in longitudinal section of a squeeze riveting tool embodying the features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is vertical sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the fixed jaw and its bracket element removed from the tool housing to show the unitary nature of this jaw and bracket fixture;

Fig. 5 shows the forward end portion of the tool housing into which the jaw and bracket fixture is inserted and mounted in assembling the tool, the view being a fragmentary section through the slot formation at the front of the housing;

Fig. 6 is a front end view of said fixture; and

Fig. '7 is a sectional view showing the riveting action of the tool.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown my invention embodied in a portable pneumatically operated squeeze riveting tool in which the body portion of the tool and its power operating mechanism are similar to that shown and described in my copending application Serial No.

455,083, filed August 17, 1942. It is to be understood that the riveting head of my present invention with its straight line riveting action is designed for interchangeable use with the tool body and power means of my previous tool.

As shown herein, the tool has a cast aluminum body housing I shaped to provide a cylinder 2 at the rear end of the tool and a forwardly extending hollow section 3 providing a chamber 4 at the front end of the tool. Said chamber 4 opens through the front end of the tool through a slot formation comprised of interconnected upper and lower sections 5, Ii through which the riveting head to be presently described is inserted for mounting in the tool housing.

The riveting head comprises a fixed jaw I and a movable jaw 8, the latter being in the form of a lever working through the upper slot 5 as shown in Figs. 1 and '7. The fixed jaw I fits in the lower slot 6 and is secured in place, in part, by a crosspin 9 having its ends anchored in the side walls I0, III of the housing section 3. The fixed jaw 1 extends beyond the front end of the tool and there carries an anvil member II to back up the rivet in an upsetting operation.

The fixed jaw I has an upstanding bracket element I2 on the rear side of the anvil II and this bracket element I2 is formed integral with the fixed jaw, the two being preferably a tool steel forging machined to give the strength required to relieve the tool housing of the strains of a riveting action. The bracket I2 fits within the slot formation at the front end of the tool and extends through and above the upper slot 5 into a forwardly projecting arm portion I3 which overhangs the anvil II. Here, the bracket I2 carries a reciprocable riveting plunger I4 slidably mounted in an opening I5 in the bracket arm I3 and movable towards and from the anvil I I, the parts being in opposition or axial alinement. The plunger I 4 is raised by alight spring member I6 which being in hair-pin form has its looped end I! about the plunger beneath the head I8 at its upper end. The spring member I6 has its side arms I9, I9 embracing the movable jaw 8 in grooves 20, 20 in the side surfaces thereof as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 7. These grooves are long enough for the spring I6 to function to raise the plunger I4 following a downward stroke towards the anvil by the movable jaw 8. The plunger I4 is equipped with a rivet set 2I as in tools of this character.

The bracket I2 is of a slotted construction to reecive the movable jaw 8 between the side walls 22, 22 of the bracket as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The movable jaw is guided in this slot by contact with the inner surfaces of the side walls thereof and is pivoted to the bracket member at a point above the fixed jaw I by a fulcrum pin 23 as shown herein. This fulcrum pin 23 extends cross-wise of the lever 8 and through the side walls 22 of the bracket 12 and the side walls IU of the housing section 3 as shown in Fig. 2. The opposite ends of the pin 23 are anchored in the side walls I of the housing section 3, screw elements 24, 24 being used as the fasteners as detailed in Fig. 2.

The slot in the bracket [2 extends to above the upper end of the plunger l4 where the power delivering end portion 25 of the lever 8 engages the plunger for projecting it on its riveting stroke. Here, the end portion 25 of the lever may be rounded or curved for ease in operation on the plunger M. The lever 8 has an actuating or power receiving end portion 26 extending to the rear side of the fulcrum 23 and located in the chamber 4 with an inclined or cam surface 21 on its under side in opposition'to the rearwardly extending portion of the fixed jaw 1 providing a track-way 28 within the chamber 4 as shown herein.

Reciprocable within the cylinder 2 is a piston 29 movable back and forth by compressed air admitted to and exhausted from the opposite ends of the cylinder through a manually operable valve means as shown and described in my 00- pending application aforesaid. The valve is mounted in the end cap 30 of the cylinder 2 and the actuators for the valve are indicated at 3|, 32 in Fig. 1. The member 32 is in the form of a rod journaled in the wall of the cylinder 2 and equipped at its forward end with a thumbpiece (not shown) for opening the valve as in my co-pending application. The inlet nipple for the compressed air is attached to the end cap 30, the nipple being marked 33.

Mounted on a piston rod 34 within the chamber 4 is a driving head 35 located between the cam surface 21 on the lever 8 and the track-way 28 on the fixed jaw 1. Roller elements 36, 36 are carried by the driving head 35 for contacting the same with the track-way and the cam surface, respectively. A spring biased plunger 31 is mounted in the fixed jaw 1 below the lever 8 and engages an abutment 38 thereon for returning the lever to its normal or open position following its riveting stroke on the plunger i4.

In use, the tool is applied over the edges of the plates 39, 4|] (two or more) to be riveted together with the anvil II on the fixed jaw 1 backing the head end 4| of the rivet 42 and with the plunger l4 above and in line with the stem 43 of the rivet. Power is now applied to the tool motor and the lever 8 forces the plunger l4 downwardly against the stem of the rivet with suflicient power to upset and head the same as indicated in Fig. '7. The plunger I4 converts the arcuate movement of the lever 8 about its fulcrum 23 into a straight line movement for upsetting the rivet stem to clamp the plates together, the result being that a more perfect head 44 is provided on the rivet stem than when the pivoted lever acts directly on the rivet as heretofore. The anvil II and the rivet set 2| have opposed concaved surfaces as shown in Figl? to conform to the shape of the heads at the opposite ends of the rivet.

It will be noted that the plunger I4 is disposed in the supporting arm [3 in right angular or transverse relation to the tool axis as defined by the center line of the piston rod 34 and further that the anvil II and the plunger l4 are on opposite sides of this axis to receive a rivet therebetween in applying the tool over the edges of the plates in the manner of a riveter of the alligator jaw type. The arrangement shown and described also locates the fulcrum pin 23 to the rear of the anvil and the plunger members and intermediate the same to reduce the width of the riveting head in the plane of the jaws l, 8 which jaws are coplanar as shown herein.

The fulcrum pin 23 also aids in securing the riveting head in place in the tool housing and the bracket l2 being secured to the fixed jaw 1 and mounting both the lever 8 and the plunger l4 relieves the tool housing of the riveting strains in the operation of the tool. This enables a relatively light material to be used for the tool housing as required for portable tool designs.

As in my co-pending application, the riveting power of the lever 8 increases as the cam surface 21 approaches parallelism with the track-way 28. The power delivering end 25 of the lever 8 is on one side of the fulcrum pin 23, while the power receiving end 25 of the lever is on the opposite side of the fulcrum the same as in my co-pending application. Moreover, the movement of the driving head 35 is away from the fulcrum 23 and the power delivering end 25 of the lever 8 in producing a riveting stroke for the plunger and towards these parts on the return stroke of the driving head to release the lever and. the plunger for return movements by their respective springs.

The riveting tool shown and described is simple and rugged in construction and develops sufficient power to complete a riveting action for cold riveting in one stroke of the plunger I4 as required for rapid production work. In translating the arcuate movement of the lever 8 on a riveting stroke into a straight line movement at the plunger l4 more perfect heading occurs in upsetting rivets and less defective riveting results. I might remark here that in the normal positions of the tool parts to start a riveting action that the lever 8 has its cam portion 21 in angular relation to the piston rod 24 as shown in Fig. 1 so that the increase of power may be developed by the lever on a riveting stroke as will be apparent from Fig. '7.

The details of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described may be variously changed and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, except as pointed out in the annexed claim.

I claim as my invention:

A portable power operated riveting tool of the alligator jaw type having a fixed jaw and a movable jaw and a support therefor, said fixed jaw having an anvil, a bracket element secured to the fixed jaw and having a forwardly extending arm portion overhanging the anvil, a riveting plunger reciprocably mounted in said arm portion above the anvil in transverse relation to the tool axis, said movable jaw being in the form of a lever fulcrumed on the bracket and having a power delivering end portion acting on the plunger for moving the same on its riveting stroke towards the anvil, power operated means on the support and operable on the lever for moving the plunger on its riveting stroke, and a pair of spring means for moving the lever and'the plunger on their n return strokes when released by the power means,

FRANK A. KAMAN. 

